Voters split evenly in backing GOP, Democrats in midterms: poll

Registered voters are evenly split on which political party they would back in the midterms in their congressional district should the 2022 midterms be hypothetically held today, according to a new poll.

A new poll from the Pew Research Center released on Thursday found that 43 percent of Americans surveyed said they would vote for the Republican candidate in their district while another 43 percent said they would vote for the Democratic candidate if the midterms happened today. 

Fourteen percent of Americans either said they would choose another candidate or were unsure.

The Pew poll, however, highlighted that this changed with respect to race, age and level of education, with more subtle differences between men and women.

With respect to race, 37 percent of white voters said they would back the Democratic candidate while 51 percent said they would back the Republican candidate. In contrast, 72 percent of Black Americans said they would vote for the Democratic candidate compared to seven percent who would vote for the Republican candidate.

Less than half (48 percent) of voters aged 18 to 29 years old, who tend to vote more liberal, said they would vote for the Democratic candidate while 29 percent said they would back the Republican candidate.

But those percentages slowly slide more Republican among older Americans, who tend to vote more conservative; half of Americans aged 65 years and older said they would back the Republican candidate compared to 41 percent who would back the Democratic candidate.

The development comes months ahead of the November midterm elections as Democrats seek to retain control of their fragile 50-50 edge in the Senate and slim majority in the House.